options JRUE HOLIDAY is getting tired of having Maalik Wayns constantly attached to his hip when he is trying to run the offense. Evan Turner can use his patented fake spin dribble only so many times before the defense quits reacting to it. Everyone has had quite enough of getting clobbered by Kwame Brown in the lane.
The 76ers will play their first exhibition game Thursday in Orlando, the first time they'll play against outside competition since training camp opened Oct. 2. And quite frankly, it couldn't come soon enough. With so many new faces and with players in serious competition for playing minutes, the battles have been hard and long. In fact, during Tuesday's session at Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, Jason Richardson approached coach Doug Collins about the team's weariness.
"He came up to me today and said, 'Coach, guys are getting beat up a little bit, I just want to make you are aware of that.' So I shut down practice an hour early," Collins said. "They talk amongst each other, which is great. I think when you have a really good team, they do that. Thad [Young] came up to me the other day. I did a teaching session and he said he thought the guys were getting a little overloaded. So I said that's enough teaching. I think that's what you do as a coach, and I think they've become appreciative of understanding that they can talk to me and that I'm going to listen and that we're going to work together."
Working together is something they want to do well, it's just working against one another that has become a little mundane. That's why seeing those Magic uniforms on Thursday will be such a welcomed sight.
"I think we need to see something new, see some different plays than the ones we've run about a million and a half times," Holiday said. "We need to see some different players, see some different schemes. Playing against each other, you call a play and the defense knows what you're going to do. I'm excited to go against someone different. It will be exciting just getting out there and seeing what happens. We have a lot of new guys, we're practically a new team. It's different playing against each other, we know what each other does. It will be exciting being as we're such a new team to see what we can do against another team who hasn't seen us."
While so much of the focus of the offseason acquisitions has been geared to the offense - with the added shooting brought in by Richardson, Dorell Wright and Nick Young and the dominant center in Andrew Bynum - Collins is equally eager to see how his defense will fare in the preseason.
"I feel good about [the defense]," Collins said. "Michael [Curry, associate coach] does such a good job teaching that. A big part of [Tuesday] morning was we had two really tough, 10-minute defensive segments where guys played 10 minutes then flipped in and played 10 minutes, so it was 20 minutes all together. That is very taxing, and we had a segment where we practiced transition defense, where you're low on numbers, where all of a sudden you're five-on-four and a guy is chasing back into the play and now it's five-on-three and two guys are chasing back into the play, which takes a lot of energy. We do a lot of one-on-one, whether it be in the post or it be on the perimeter defensively. That really takes a lot out of you.
"I think the guys understand so now it's just a matter of getting the repetition and getting the habits and make sure they're getting into the right spots and that they communicate with each other. I think we have a really good chance at being a good defensive team. We'll be a different defensive team in that we're bigger. In the halfcourt, when you look at it last year, we really weren't a team that forced a lot of turnovers. I think we were top 10 in steals but I don't think we were a team that forced a lot of turnovers.
"I think we'll be a team that probably defends the rim a little bit better, if we can keep our bigs out of foul trouble. I think we'll have a team that comes off the bench that has speed and quickness, so I think they'll be a little bit different defensively. I like where our guys are. I think they're picking everything up."
Collins won't need long to find out where his new group is, as the Sixers play all seven exhibition games in a 12-day span.
"Normally in an exhibition in the first three or four games, you play a lot of guys and give them a chance to play with different combinations," Collins said. "The first game, I might play a couple of guys together or I might do some things you might not normally do during a game, just to see how things fit. And then as you go along, you have to start building up, so that guys can play heavier minutes. When you finish that last exhibition game, you have about 8 days from that game to the start of your season. We're hoping that Andrew [bruised bone in knee] will be cleared where he can practice and get some practices in [after the final preseason game]. We're going to play basically 3 weeks and seven games without him and then throw him into the mix and now really have to get him acclimated to what we're doing."
Six shots
Former NBA referee Mark Wunderlich met with the team Tuesday to show a video and go over what referees will be looking for this season. Doug Collins said the three points of emphasis this year were traveling, blocks/charges and moving screens . . . Collins said he was eager to see Maalik Wayns and Jrue Holiday play together during the preseason, something he has yet been able to do in practices . . . The Sixers will play the Brooklyn Nets at Atlantic City's Boardwalk Hall on Saturday before hosting their first preseason game at the Wells Fargo Center on Monday against Boston.
Contact Bob Cooney at cooneyb@phillynews.com. Follow him on Twitter @BobCooney76. For more Sixers coverage, read his blog at philly.com/Sixerville.
Source : philly[dot]com
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